Simple Home Cleaning Tips

Crumbs on the kitchen counter, dust on the TV, gunk in the bathroom sink — We can’t stand our houses when they are a mess. But the thought of spending an entire day cleaning it from top to bottom sends me running to the sofa for a nap. After all, in a week, it’s just going to get dirty again.

Here are three simple home cleaning steps to help curb those nagging feelings:

Set cleaning to auto or leave it to the professionals

Make friends with the latest effort-saving cleaning tools and products, such as robotic vacuum cleaners and floor washers, and self-cleaning cat boxes, which rake cat poop into cartridges that you replace every week or so. An automatic shower cleaner spiffs up your shower at the touch of a button, and self-cleaning toilet bowl cleaners scrub your toilet every time you flush. We also suggest calling in a professional to help with your cleaning needs, like your rugs, carpets, upholstery and tile & grout.

Sweat the small stuff & zap the dirt fast

Clean drips as soon as they occur, before they dry or soak into surfaces or carpet & rugs. When you spill on your range top or carpet, quickly run a damp sponge over the (hot) surface – before it stains. Dust often so it doesn’t have a chance to build up and harden in corners and crevices.

Pick a focus room & clean in short bursts

Spend another 10 minutes cleaning one room. Clean a different room every day, so eventually your whole house gets attention. Look at the top, middle and bottom of the room, and pretend you’re seeing it for the first time. Tackle the tasks you don’t always get to, like removing cobwebs and dusting plants.